FBM KLCI ends lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Subdued demand among investors influenced the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to close easier today, dragged down by losses in selected heavyweights and blue chips, dealers said.

The FBM KLCI finished the day at 1,846.18, down 1.32 points from yesterday's close, after fluctuating between 1,845.17 and 1,851.53.

Losses in counters like IOI Corp, Petronas Chemicals and DiGi.com dragged down a total of 16.54 points from the composite index. However, gains in Petronas Dagangan, Maxis, SapuraKencana and Tenaga Nasional helped to limit the downtrend.

IOI Corp fell 18 sen to RM4.60, both Petronas Chemicals and DiGi.com lost 11 sen each to RM6.63 and RM4.86, respectively, while Petronas Dagangan soared 78 sen to RM31.00.

Maxis, SapuraKencana and Tenaga Nasional all gained 10 sen each to end at RM7.22, RM4.80 and RM11.04 respectively.

MIDF head of research Zulkifli Hamzah said the uptrend in the local bourse was mainly due to external development, particularly from the United States, with the ongoing Federal Reserve's (Fed) Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Overnight, the Fed announced that it would start to taper its aggressive bond-buying programme to US$75 billion a month in January 2014 while still promising to hold interest rates close to zero.

"Global equity markets reacted positively to the announcement especially Wall Street and major Asian markets.
"With the decision, a lot of uncertainties in the global level have been removed," he told Bernama.

Zulkifli also said gains on the local bourse, however, was capped by significant foreign selling.
"Fund managers will book profit whenever the market rebounds," he added.